Tory 'society'
The Shorter Oxford Dictionary offers ten definitions of "society" so it is a word whose meaning has to be taken from its context.
My understanding is that Mrs Thatcher was responding to a claim, which was often made at the time, that so-and-so was not responsible for his misdemeanours as it was all "the fault of society".
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Hide AdHer point was that, no matter what our own circumstances, each of us is responsible in the final analysis for our own actions – a proposition with which many would agree and which could be said to be the basis of criminal law and, indeed, moral behaviour.
S BECK
Craigleith Drive
Edinburgh